02-23-2012, 02:38 PM
Brian,
You will want to check out the charter schools, they hire directly, unlike the DOE schools, but unlike most mainland charter schools we are under the same contract with the same pay and benefits as the DOE schools. We do work really hard though, because we are underfunded at almost half the rate of DOE schools we all do a lot of extra duty. Even more than all teachers do. I haven't worked less than a 50 hour week in 6 years, it helps to love what you do.
Being outdoorsy will help with a lot of the kids, most of our kids hunt and fish, even the girls, and being able to tell stories about how my mid western HS had almost nobody there the first day of hunting season and about working my neighbors' cattle on horseback, plus bragging on the quality of the salmon fishing and crabbing in Oregon, really bought me some credibility. Many of these kids know nothing of the mainland except Las Vegas, LA, and TV, so they really like knowing about rural life styles there.
My experience trying to navigate the hiring process in the DOE is the one situation here where I really feel like I was discriminated against because of my race (or at least origins). With a name like mine, and an Oregon teaching license, they knew I wasn't "local" and 3 different times I was sent a postcard with an appointment date for the interview with an administrator, that is the vital first step to being hired, with a date that was the day after the date the principal was given. A good way to piss off the person who you want to hire you is to not show up for your appointment. Each time the lady at the DOE gave me a new date, and each time it was still not the same date the principal got. I just gave up on the DOE after that and have worked at two different charter schools.
Most but not all of the charter schools are full inclusion, which means our sped kids and our TAG kids all learn in the same classroom with the teacher and EAs busting their butts to differentiate instruction. I teach middle school social studies, art, Health and an Elective called Hands on Thinking in a classroom with reading levels anywhere from 2nd grade to post college in the same room, studying the same material. We don't have much of the middle though, unless they are FOB from the mainland, the middle of the road kids go to their neighborhood school.
Hopes this helps.
Carol
You will want to check out the charter schools, they hire directly, unlike the DOE schools, but unlike most mainland charter schools we are under the same contract with the same pay and benefits as the DOE schools. We do work really hard though, because we are underfunded at almost half the rate of DOE schools we all do a lot of extra duty. Even more than all teachers do. I haven't worked less than a 50 hour week in 6 years, it helps to love what you do.
Being outdoorsy will help with a lot of the kids, most of our kids hunt and fish, even the girls, and being able to tell stories about how my mid western HS had almost nobody there the first day of hunting season and about working my neighbors' cattle on horseback, plus bragging on the quality of the salmon fishing and crabbing in Oregon, really bought me some credibility. Many of these kids know nothing of the mainland except Las Vegas, LA, and TV, so they really like knowing about rural life styles there.
My experience trying to navigate the hiring process in the DOE is the one situation here where I really feel like I was discriminated against because of my race (or at least origins). With a name like mine, and an Oregon teaching license, they knew I wasn't "local" and 3 different times I was sent a postcard with an appointment date for the interview with an administrator, that is the vital first step to being hired, with a date that was the day after the date the principal was given. A good way to piss off the person who you want to hire you is to not show up for your appointment. Each time the lady at the DOE gave me a new date, and each time it was still not the same date the principal got. I just gave up on the DOE after that and have worked at two different charter schools.
Most but not all of the charter schools are full inclusion, which means our sped kids and our TAG kids all learn in the same classroom with the teacher and EAs busting their butts to differentiate instruction. I teach middle school social studies, art, Health and an Elective called Hands on Thinking in a classroom with reading levels anywhere from 2nd grade to post college in the same room, studying the same material. We don't have much of the middle though, unless they are FOB from the mainland, the middle of the road kids go to their neighborhood school.
Hopes this helps.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb